When you need the thingy for the thing

This is one way in which I used the 家得宝 app to get light bulbs: tap the camera icon on the search bar on top, take a picture of the dirty spent light bulb I wanted to replace, pick one of the replacement options from the search results list, order it right there on the app, and receive it a couple days after.

The best part of this experience is that the new light bulb fitted the socket on my first try even when I didn’t know the brand, size, wattage, or any of the technical specifications. Thanks to Home Depot’s clever use of technology, it only took one Aimi household member to change that light bulb.

This is a big accomplishment considering each Home Depot store has over 35,000 SKUs and none of us knows the specs of any of them. If you’ve ever tried to find that missing part for your home project among the miles of shelves, we might be DIY-related.

Even if you are not trying to Do-It-Yourself, you can still use the app to learn the names of the things you are trying to fix. Your handyman will take you more seriously if you can at least tell them what the problem is about instead of just pointing and mumbling.

Home Depot has focused on handymen and other pros to sustain sales after a giant pandemic spike. Overall year-over-year sales have gone down last quarter, but less than estimates. The bright spot? Sales using the app and other digital platforms have gone up 2% in the same period.

Walmart, that other retailer making extensive use of technology, has over 120,000 SKUs per store. But Walmart’s operating margin is less than 3% while Home Depot’s is over 14%. Their app has helped us find the product that works, and it has helped Home Depot apply a strategy that fits.

This was issue 6 of Else, a newsletter with alternative software reviews. I’ll be back soon with a review of OpenAI's GPT creator tool. Subscribe if you haven't yet.